Daniel Hawkins, Jacob Ivascu and Drake Ruiz were in a Toyota Prius that was allegedly intentionally rammed by Anurag Chandra after they played "Ding Dong Ditch," ringing his doorbell and running away

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Vehicles drive Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020, by the site where three teens were killed and three others injured Sunday night on Temescal Canyon Road, south of Corona. Those killed were Daniel Hawkins, Drake Ruiz and Jacob Ivascu. The three youths, all 16, attended the same Christian school through eighth grade. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Craig Hawkins, father of Daniel Hawkins, thanks the community for its support of his family and the families of the two other boys who were killed in a Jan. 19, 2020 crash in Temescal Valley that prompted murder charges against the other driver. Fourth from left is Alex Ivascu, father of Jacob Ivascu. At right is Debbie Ruiz, mother of Drake Ruiz. The three parents spoke outside Superior Court on Jan. 23. (Brian Rokos/The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

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Anurag Chandra, 42, is arrested in a Temescal Valley neighborhood near the scene of a car crash that killed three teen boys and injured three others on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020. Witnesses told the California Highway Patrol Chandra had rammed the car the boys were in, then drove his damaged car away from the scene. ( Nathan Wilking of RVCNEWS)

“They were all my boys at school and at church,” Diane Boy, left, cries with Kristin Gonzalez at a Northpoint Evangelical Free Church prayer service in Corona for three boys killed in a Temescal Valley crash on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. Both live in Corona. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

The California Highway Patrol investigates the scene of a crash that killed three teens and injured three others at Temescal Canyon Road and Trilogy Parkway in the Temescal Valley area south of Corona on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. The crash was reported at 10:28 p.m. Sunday according to the Riverside Fire Department. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Teary-eyed teens embrace during a Northpoint Evangelical Free Church prayer service in Corona for three boys killed in a Temescal Valley crash on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Corona residents Michael Sedber, left, and Shelly Cassady embrace through tears at a Northpoint Evangelical Free Church prayer service in Corona for three boys killed in a Temescal Valley crash on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

The damaged front end of the white Infiniti sedan that witnesses said was driven from the scene of an accident that claimed the lives of three teen boys in the Temescal Valley on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020. (Nathan Wilking RVCNEWS)

Teens huddle and hug at a Northpoint Evangelical Free Church prayer service in Corona for three boys killed in a Temescal Valley crash on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Drake Ruiz, a 16-year-old boy from Corona, died after a crash in Temescal Valley. (Photo courtesy of Nicole Nixon/GoFundMe)

California Highway Patrol Lt. David Yokley speaks about the hit-and-run crash in Temescal Valley that claimed the lives of three teenage boys and left three other injured during a press conference outside the CHP office in Riverside on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. Yokley said the suspect, Anurag Chandra, 42, of Corona, was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

The California Highway Patrol investigates the scene of a crash that killed three teens and injured three others at Temescal Canyon Road and Trilogy Parkway in the Temescal Valley area south of Corona on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. The crash was reported at 10:28 p.m. Sunday according to the Riverside Fire Department. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Tears and hugs flow at a Northpoint Evangelical Free Church prayer service in Corona for three boys killed in a Temescal Valley crash on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Shelly Cassady of Corona wipes tears at a Northpoint Evangelical Free Church prayer service in Corona for three boys killed in a Temescal Valley crash on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

The California Highway Patrol investigates the scene of a crash that killed three teens and injured three others at Temescal Canyon Road and Trilogy Parkway in the Temescal Valley area south of Corona on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. The crash was reported at 10:28 p.m. Sunday according to the Riverside Fire Department. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

It was quiet at the end of a prayer service, expect for the sounds of sniffing, for three boys killed in a Temescal Valley crash at Corona’s Northpoint Evangelical Free Church on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

The California Highway Patrol investigates the scene of a crash that killed three teens and injured three others at Temescal Canyon Road and Trilogy Parkway in the Temescal Valley area south of Corona on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. The crash was reported at 10:28 p.m. Sunday according to the Riverside Fire Department. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

The California Highway Patrol investigates the scene of a crash that killed three teens and injured three others at Temescal Canyon Road and Trilogy Parkway in the Temescal Valley area south of Corona on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. The crash was reported at 10:28 p.m. Sunday according to the Riverside Fire Department. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

The California Highway Patrol investigates the scene of a crash that killed three teens and injured three others at Temescal Canyon Road and Trilogy Parkway in the Temescal Valley area south of Corona on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. The crash was reported at 10:28 p.m. Sunday according to the Riverside Fire Department. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

A memorial sits at the site Tuesday afternoon Jan. 21, 2020 where three teens were killed and three others were injured Sunday night on Temescal Canyon Road when a driver intentionally rammed their Toyota Prius according to the California Highway Patrol in Temescal Valley south of Corona. Those killed were identified as Daniel Hawkins, 16, Corona; Drake Ruiz, 16, Corona; and Jacob Ivascu, 16, Riverside. Anurag Chandra, 42, of Corona was arrested on suspicion of murder and assault with a deadly weapon. “It was an intentional act, “ said CHP Lt. David Yokley at a news conference. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

A memorial sits at the site Tuesday afternoon Jan. 21, 2020 where three teens were killed and three others were injured Sunday night on Temescal Canyon Road when a driver intentionally rammed their Toyota Prius, according to the California Highway Patrol, in Temescal Valley south of Corona. Those killed were identified as Daniel Hawkins, 16, Corona; Drake Ruiz, 16, Corona; and Jacob Ivascu, 16, Riverside. Anurag Chandra, 42, of Corona was arrested on suspicion of murder and assault with a deadly weapon. “It was an intentional act, “ said CHP Lt. David Yokley at a news conference. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

California Highway Patrol investigates the scene of a crash that killed three teens and injured three others at Temescal Canyon Road and Trilogy Parkway in the Temescal Valley area south of Corona on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. The crash was reported at 10:28 p.m. Sunday according to the Riverside Fire Department. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

“Our teachers were all going through our yearbooks and every picture we have of those three boys, they were always together and always being inseparable and always being goofballs,” said Mandy Logan, principal of Olive Branch Community Church and School in Corona.

The three 16-year-old friends who died in the Temescal Valley collision attended the school through eighth grade.

Daniel Hawkins, of Corona; Jacob Ivascu, of Riverside; and Drake Ruiz, of Corona, along with three other boys, had stopped to pull a prank on their way to a sleepover for Ivascu’s birthday. According to Ruiz’s mother, Debbie Ruiz, they were playing “Ding Dong Ditch,” ringing the doorbell and running away before it was answered. They thought they had stopped at a friend’s house.

Craig Hawkins, father of Daniel Hawkins, thanks the community for its support of his family and the families of the two other boys who were killed in a Jan. 19, 2020 crash in Temescal Valley that prompted murder charges against the other driver. Fourth from left is Alex Ivascu, father of Jacob Ivascu. At right is Debbie Ruiz, mother of Drake Ruiz. The three parents spoke outside Superior Court on Jan. 23. (Brian Rokos/The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Instead, they rang the doorbell of Anurag Chandra.

Chandra, a 42-year-old Temescal Valley man, pursued the boys, who were accompanied by three other teens, in his white Infiniti sedan, authorities said. He rammed the Toyota Prius in which the boys were riding, according to the CHP. The impact sent the car into a tree at Temescal Canyon Road and Trilogy Parkway.

One boy was pronounced dead at the scene. Two died at a hospital. The other three were expected to survive, as of Monday.

“Every kid does ‘Ding Dong Ditch,’ but you don’t know who’s behind that door,” Debbie Ruiz said. “From the minute I heard it, I knew God had a plan … I couldn’t not think this way, because God is bigger than us.”

‘Inseparable’

The boys were remembered as good friends who loved sports and their church.

All six boys in the Prius attended Olive Branch Community Church and School through eighth grade.

Logan remembers Hawkins, Ivascu and Ruiz well. Hawkins and Ruiz started on campus as preschoolers. Ivascu enrolled a few years later. After that, the three boys were “inseparable,” Logan said Thursday.

“Drake was kind of our funny man. He was always making kids laugh. Daniel was kind of a jock. I can’t remember a time when he didn’t have a basketball in his hands,” Logan said. “Jacob was kind of their silent leader. If he said to do something, they’d do it.”

All three ran cross-country for the school, which has fewer than 250 students.

Logan, who wept as she remembered the teens, said their deaths have hit the community hard.

“When you have kids like that, when you work with kids, they’re like your kids,” she said. “You watch them grow up. We’re a small school, so they’re like family.”

“It takes a village to raise kiddos and I kind of feel like we’re their village, along with Woodcrest and Centennial and all those other (schools),” Logan said.

Daniel Hawkins

Hawkins went to Santiago High School in the Corona-Norco Unified School District, where he played football. He was always “working” to improve, according to his coach, Ralph Valdez.

Vigil, service scheduled

Olive Branch Church will host a candlelight vigil Friday, Jan. 24, at 7 p.m. at the corner of Trilogy Parkway and Temescal Canyon Road. The event will be in an empty lot, owned by Olive Branch, and across the street from where the boys died.

“Tell me how close to home that is,” Logan said, through tears.

A service for the three boys is set for Crossroads Christian Church, 2331 Kellogg Ave., Corona, on Tuesday, Jan. 28, at 4 p.m.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correctly spell the name of Olive Branch Community Church and School Principal Mandy Logan.